Program Overview

The Cardiac Sonography program at El Centro will prepare you for a wide range of career opportunities. Our faculty draw on their knowledge and experience to ensure student success.

Intense Program Pays off with a Great Career

As a student in the Cardiac Sonography program, you’ll benefit from our outstanding faculty and exemplary clinical rotations, which are recognized both locally and nationally.

The program requires a full-time commitment of lectures, skills labs and clinical experience. The schedule for classes and clinicals varies from semester to semester, but classes are typically held four days a week during daytime and evening hours.

Each semester involves about 40 hours of class and clinical experience each week. You should plan a minimum of two to three hours of studying and preparation time for each class or clinical experience. The demands of the courses are such that most students can’t work full time while enrolled in this program. If you need to work or have significant family responsibilities, we encourage you to plan your schedule carefully to balance the time commitment that this program demands.

This intense program pays off with experience and credentials that will give you an edge in a competitive job market. Graduates generally find immediate employment and have an excellent pass rate on credentialing exams.

Developing Skills for Success

As a Cardiac Sonography student, you’ll attend classroom sessions, get hands-on training in our Ultrasound Scanning Lab and go on field trips to enhance your learning experience. Clinical rotations begin the first week of class.

You’ll rotate through a minimum of three clinical facilities during your training, including metroplex hospitals and cardiology clinics, and you’ll be exposed to a wide variety of ultrasound equipment. You’ll take oral, practical and written exams throughout the program.

Cardiac Sonography classes are held in the Downtown Health Sciences Center (formerly the El Centro Center for Allied Health and Nursing) at Market and Pacific streets, one block northwest of the El Centro campus. The center comprises 55 classrooms and labs that contain some of the most advanced equipment available to educate health care students.

The center’s high-tech equipment includes:

• Teaching labs that simulate surgical and hospital settings for specific program applications.
• Microphones and cameras in each classroom to capture audio and video instruction.
• Three classrooms with videoconferencing for two-way viewing.
• Two simulation labs with computerized patient mannequins.

Accreditation and Affiliations